to draw and then you give it to the commanders before printing,” he explained.
What is the (Golem-like) soldier holding in his hand?
“Y.” “A mosque. Before I drew the shirt I had some misgivings, because I wanted it
to be like King Kong, but not too monstrous. The one holding the mosque - I wanted
him to have a more normal-looking face, so it wouldn’t look like an anti-Semitic
cartoon. Some of the people who saw it told me, ‘Is that what you’ve got to show
for the IDF? That it destroys homes?’ I can understand people who look at this from
outside and see it that way, but I was in Gaza and they kept emphasizing that the
object of the operation was to wreak destruction on the infrastructure, so that the
price the Palestinians and the leadership pay will make them realize that it isn’t
worth it for them to go on shooting. So that’s the idea of ‘we’re coming to destroy’
in the drawing.”
Where does the fist come from?
“It’s reminiscent of [Rabbi Meir] Kahane’s symbol. I borrowed it from an emblem for
something in (Communist) Russia, but basically it’s supposed to look like Kahane’s
symbol, the one from ‘Kahane Was Right’ - it’s a sort of joke. Our company commander
is kind of gung-ho.”
Was the shirt printed?
“Yes. It was a company shirt. We printed about 100 like that.”
. . . the “Night Predators” demolitions platoon from Golani’s Battalion 13 ordered
a T-shirt showing a Golani devil detonating a charge that destroys a mosque. An inscription
above it says, “Only God forgives.”
After Operation Cast Lead, soldiers from that battalion printed a T-shirt depicting
a vulture sexually penetrating Hamas’ Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, accompanied
by a particularly graphic slogan.
Ben-Tzedef explained. “It stems from the fact that profanity is very acceptable and
normative in Israel, and that there is a lack of respect for human beings and their
environment, which includes racism aimed in every direction.”
Snipers wear shirts that say, “Don’t Bother Running Because You’ll Die Tired” - with
a drawing of a Palestinian boy, not a terrorist. There’s a Golani or Givati shirt
of a soldier raping a girl, and underneath it says, ‘No virgins, no terror attacks.’
“There is a perception that the Palestinian is not a person, a human being entitled
to basic rights, and therefore anything may be done to him.”
Sasson-Levy: “No. I think it strengthens and stimulates aggression and legitimizes
it. What disturbs me is that a shirt is something that has permanence. The soldiers
later wear it in civilian life; their girlfriends wear it afterward. It is not a
statement, but rather something physical that remains, that is out there in the world.
Beyond that, I think the link made between sexist views and nationalist views, as
in the ‘Screw Haniyeh’ shirt, is interesting. National chauvinism and gender chauvinism
combine and strengthen one another. It establishes a masculinity shaped by violent
aggression toward women and Arabs; a masculinity that considers it legitimate to
speak in a crude and violent manner toward women and Arabs.”
Col. (res.) Ron Levy began his military service in the Sayeret Matkal elite commando
force before the Six-Day War. He was the IDF’s chief psychologist, and headed the
army’s mental health department in the 1980s.
Some Links to Israeli Press exposing IDF War Crimes:
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072475.html
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1054861.html
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072040.html
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072228.html
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072466.html
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072481.html
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072811.html
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072821.html
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1073191.html
Endnotes
The Anti-Christ Cult of Murder, Lies & Hate
